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Green EnergyWho Has A Problem With It?

We hear a lot about "Green Energy" today. Examples of Green Energy are Solar and Wind Power. It is hard to imagine how someone could actually oppose these forms of energy for home use especially if the homeowner is paying for it. There are laws in place that require the power company to purchase any surplus power produced from home generation of electrical power. Most people who decide to purchase a solar or wind power system choose to operate grid-interactive because this eliminates the need for a large battery bank and charge controller. Your house uses whatever energy it normally uses and the home power system merely subsidizes the energy needs. At times you can actually see the power meter running backwards.

We continually hear from people like Al Gore on how every house should be built with some form of "Green Energy" system and other homes should be retrofitted if possible. That sounds like a great idea. Of course, there are problems. The acquisition costs can be quite expensive depending on how elaborate of a system you decide is best for your needs. We are told that the payback is 6-8 years. In reality, it comes out to be 8-10 years, but nonetheless, if you are willing to wait, it can be a good investment. Who could be opposed to this? The answer will surprise you.

Case in point...

Michael Mercurio of Long Beach Township, NJ, was tired of paying as much as $340/month for gas and electricity at his Cape Cod style home in New Jersey. He decided to erect a 35-foot wind generator in his backyard last fall that helped reduce his bill to about $114/year. What a great idea. It seems that Green Energy actually works - a concept that no one has doubted. Mr. Mercurio acquired all of the permits necessary to build a wind generator in his backyard. He jumped through all of the hoops and did not ask anyone for any money to achieve energy independence, but now the township is prohibiting its use.

Examine the facts. This is New Jersey. The state houses a huge Liberal population that is made up of a notorious Not-In-My-Backyard culture. They have all probably seen and believe Al Gore's movie. They understand the dangers of "Global Warming" caused by blatant energy use and waste. By now, especially after seeing Al Gore's movie, they should be clear about energy conservation and how the positive aspects of "Alternative Green Energy" outweigh any negative aspects. These are the people that are always talking about "Green Energy" and yet THEY are the only ones that are trying to stop the use of a clean, renewable source of energy.

This is another example of how Liberals want to exempt themselves from the policies that they want to force upon others. When their vision of the future that they say they support and want to implement on a large scale show up in their neighborhood, they try to stop it.

Some of his neighbors say it is also annoying. They say it is too big. They say it is too noisy. Some residents in this middle-class borough on Long Beach Island have gone to court to try to make him take it down, while the township has stilled it since winter.

Take a look at the chain of events. Two of Mr. Mercurio's neighbors, Patricia Caplicki and John F. Miller both reside in Long Beach Township, filed a lawsuit in State Superior Court in Ocean County, charging that the township had acted improperly when it issued the permits that allowed him to build the weathered gray steel tower in his backyard.

Keep in mind that Patricia Caplicki lives about five houses down the street from Mr. Mercurio, roughly 300 feet, and John Miller lives almost 20 blocks away.

The township has since agreed that it was in error. Its code prevents any structure from being built that exceeds 32 feet in height; with its 12-foot rotor blades, Mr. Mercurio's wind generator grazes 40 feet. The township council considered amending the code to keep wind generators taller than 12 feet from being built. That proposal is pending. This will of course eliminate any and all wind generators from being erected in the future. It essentially bans wind powered renewable energy solutions.

What did Mr. Mercurio do wrong? Nothing, he did nothing wrong. In fact, he did everything right. He gave township officials the precise specifications for his windmill months in advance of construction. Based on these specifications, the town gave him the necessary permit, and he built it according to those specifications.

Patricia Caplicki and John Miller say in the lawsuit that in a 14-mile-per-hour wind, the three fiberglass blades produce noise greater than 50 decibels, the rough equivalent of light traffic or a noisy refrigerator. They also claim that the spinning blades throw "strobe-like shadows" on their property from noon to sunset. It must be nice to have so much free time available that you have the time to worry about such petty things. How long does the sun park itself behind the blades of the windmill? Why is it that there is always some person that has too much free time on their hands that goes out of their way to find something wrong with whatever someone else does?

"This is something that needs to be adopted," Caplicki said during a public hearing. "There is an issue with the noise and safety of the windmills." You can stop pretending to care Patricia. When has a small wind generator ever been considered to be a danger to the public? Well, she admits that it needs to be adopted, JUST NOT IN HER NEIGHBORHOOD!!! Yep, she is a Liberal. If you want to know what we mean, take a look at the editorial "Are You A Liberal".

As far as the noise goes, you are talking about a noisy refrigerator. If the tower was allowed to be taller and thereby more efficient, there would be less noise for Ms. Caplicki to complain about. But then, she would complain about that. She must be the President of the Neighborhood Association. She is nothing but a 64 year-old woman that has nothing else to do but to stick her nose into everyone's business and complain about the neighbors.

Here is what they have to say. "It's not that we're doing anything to stop the world from turning green," said George M. Cafarelli, a lawyer for Ms. Caplicki and Mr. Miller who said he had asked them not to discuss the suit with a reporter. "We're jousting at windmills which have been put up in inappropriate places."

Actually, you are trying to do something to "stop the world from turning green". The filing of this lawsuit is a blatant attempt to ban renewable energy. Maybe Mr. Mercurio should install a coal burning boiler to run a small steam engine. All of that black smoke pumping out over the neighborhood might change their minds and make the wind generator seem like a good idea.

Of course, the township had their say too. Richard J. Shackleton, the lawyer for the township, said that officials here were cognizant of environmental concerns and encouraged the use of alternative energy sources like solar panels. Mr. Mercurio already has 56 solar panels on his home. Mr. Mercurio's model, the Skystream 3.7, which is manufactured by Southwest Windpower, which is based in Arizona, can cost more than $15,000, fully loaded. The wind generator, which generates about two kilowatts of power, can provide about a quarter of the energy Mr. Mercurio needs. The other 75 percent is generated by solar power.

On the 21-mile-long barrier island that is home to about 9,000 people, Mr. Shackleton said, windmills present a safety hazard and disturb the aesthetics. Make no mistake, safety is not their concern. What do they think is going to happen? The worst thing that could happen is that the windmill could fall over in a strong wind and land on Mr. Mercurio's house. Face it, what they really do not want is to have see something they do not want to see, but that is the price of "Green Energy". And seeing one of these "Green Energy" implements it is a small price to pay to stop what Al Gore refers to as one of the many problems associated Global Warming. And Mr. Mercurio is doing it at his own expense. It is not costing anyone anything.

"If we had any areas on the island that are big enough to accommodate windmills, we would encourage their use, too," Richard Shackleton said. Who is this Mr. Shackleton that he is to decide what is big enough? What we have is a municipality that is actively banning a renewable energy source. How un-American is that?

Mary Kopp, 81, Mr. Mercurio's next-door neighbor, thinks that alternative energy "is something we have to look into," but that his yard is "the wrong place for a windmill like this." Who is Mary Kopp that she should make that decision for Mr. Mercurio? It is none of her business. What education does she have to make that assessment? In fact, it is very doubtful that she even understands what Mr. Mercurio's wind generator actually does. She has formed a negative opinion based on who-knows-what and nothing else matters. Chances are very good that she is living at the expense of the American taxpayers and all she can do is to complain about someone that is trying to be more independent rather than try to live by her example.

It seems that these people believe in energy conservation only on a very limited basis. Make no mistake; they do not care for anything except their own selfish needs.

The only fossil fuels that Mr. Mercurio uses are for the natural gas barbecue grill in his backyard and the stove in his home and the utility bill that averages around $9.50 a month. But since the township shut it down in January, the windmill has not produced anything but controversy though the curved blades, still whir in an occasional breeze. At present, Mr. Mercurio has been relying entirely on solar power until another neighbor decides that those solar panels make the house look like something from NASA and should be removed because it does not have blend in with the neighborhood.

Here is a man that has taken a responsible and, according to Liberals, ethical attempt to stop Global Warming. What has happened, these Liberals in true form have caused nothing but problems for Mr. Mercurio. The lawsuit is draining his retirement. Have you ever heard of a Conservative who stood in the way of "Green Energy"?

Suzanne Leta Liou, a spokeswoman for the advocacy group Environment New Jersey, said simply, "We should be trying to maximize our wind potential instead of prohibiting it." That is exactly right and that is exactly what Mr. Mercurio is trying to do. And just take a look at who is trying to stop him. A bunch of elitist Liberals that want everyone else to live a certain way, but they want to be exempt from the policies that they want enforce against others.

Mercurio said that he would be willing to sit down with township officials and discuss the issue of windmills being used for energy.

"I would love to talk to them and explain the different types of windmills and their uses," Mercurio said. "I think that it's something that this township should be promoting."

"People have a right to use any resource on their property, just like oil, coal," he added. "I don't understand why they are against this. I really don't."

That is a good plan but it would be a safe bet that they are not the least bit interested in hearing anything that in direct opposition to what they believe.

"People always say, 'Not in my backyard, not in my backyard'," Mr. Mercurio said. "I want to flip it around. It should start in my backyard."

Ask yourself this, who is the problem and who is the solution?

No one from the Environmental Movement has come to the aid of Michael Mercerio and no one will. There should be a line of people protesting out in front of the office of Richard J. Shackleton and the home of Patricia Caplicki and John Miller. But, as we can see, the Environmental Movement is not interested in advancing alternative energy. It seems that they are in favor of "Renewable Energy" until someone actually incorporates the concept.

Cape Wind is proposing America's first offshore wind farm on Horseshoe Shoal in Nantucket Sound. Miles from the nearest shore, 130 wind turbines will gracefully harness the wind to produce up to 420 megawatts of clean, renewable energy. In average winds, Cape Wind will provide three quarters of the Cape and Islands electricity needs.

This sounds like a great idea, right? Well, it is, but there are people that are opposed to it. Do you think that it is the Oil Companies or the Utility Companies that are trying to stop it? Nope, it is the Liberals themselves. Senator Edward M. Kennedy, (Dem-MA) and Representative William Delahunt (Dem-MA) are adamant that they want no part of this Cape Cod Wind Farm project to be placed where it is now being proposed in the Nantucket Sound Area for no other reason that they consider it to be an eye-sore. Do not forget where these people call home. Apparently, they do not want to see these wind farms on the horizon or anywhere near where they are going to be. To them, it is aesthetically unsound. It does not matter that is totally pollution free. This is just another example of the Elitist Liberals that live and vacation around Nantucket, Martha's Vineyard, and Cape Cod.

A $40,000 ad campaign was begun in the Boston and Cape Cod media markets urging Democrats "to put public backing for clean energy before the interests of wealthy homeowners on the sound." Kennedy's family compound is in Hyannis Port on Nantucket Sound. Think about this. These wealthy homeowners are very Liberal and as you can guess, they expect to be exempt from having to live with "Green Power". Take another look at "Are You A Liberal" and you can see what they believe.

No matter what you do to improve on the environment there are going to be people who throw up red flags everywhere. They have almost innumerable choices when it comes to saying no, that is a word that when you see it, it makes you say, "Oh no, not again!" and it always seems to be the very people that you would think would support the very idea of "Green Energy". You can try to explain the positive aspects and what value these kinds of renewable energy have but there are so many issues that people come with. Some of the reasons are just so far out in deep roving left field that they cannot really be taken seriously, but when they take legal action to block the project and stop everything there must be a reason. And the reason is that they really do not want these alternative energy solutions. They say they do, but when someone tries to make an attempt, they are stopped in their tracks.

There are people that have complained that the wind farm will disrupt the fishing grounds and that they should be painted certain colors to either blend in with the ocean and sky or be painted white to contrast with the ocean. Any decision either way will likely evoke litigation in court. And once again, it is being done by the very people you would think would offer their full support.

UPDATEUPDATE UPDATE

23 June 2008

Liberals are somewhat unhappy this week. Barnstable Superior Court Judge Robert Kane on Friday, in a 37-page ruling, allowed motions by Cape Wind and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to dismiss four of five counts that had been filed by the opposition group and by the Town of Barnstable to stop the building of "Green Energy" wind turbines. Read the whole story.

These are perfect examples showing that the entire "Global Warming", "Green Energy", and "Alternative Energy" ideas put forth by the Environmental movement are not their primary goal. They do not truly believe in these concepts nor do they believe in energy independence. The implementation of their ideas of "Alternative Energy" is not their concern. It is a smoke screen. It is a pipe dream that will never be achieved. You never seen a protest in favor of "Green Energy" anywhere where it was questioned or stopped? It is not about "Green Energy", "Global Warming", or the "Destruction of the Environment". It is about power and control. No where are they trying to find solutions for the problems they protest. Remember, they are always part of the problem and never part of the solution.